Buffy, The Vampire Slayer
by Alezkia Lyaine Leonei
Summary: This was a story I started working on several seasons ago, so the character relationships are not all up to date, but you should get the general idea nonetheless.
1. Prologue

Prologue  
  
  
"Aaahh!" Xander screamed, standing upright in horror until the vampire dematerialized, leaving him face to face with Buffy as a stopwatch beeped.  
  
"Whenever I'm faced with demons of the night, it's always comforting to remember that Xander will come and save me," Buffy cracked, lifting her bag off the ground.  
  
Willow walked up to them, studying the stopwatch in her hand. "The scores are much more impressive this time," she explained, jotting something down on a tablet of paper.  
  
Oz looked over her shoulder and read the paper. "Buffy killed the demon in half a minute less time, and Xander stayed around fifteen seconds longer." He looked up at Xander with a grin. "You should be proud of yourself."  
  
"Thrilled," Xander replied as they began walking back to campus.   
  
"Actually, I think things are going great," Buffy spoke up.  
  
"Really?" Willow asked. "You agree?"  
  
"Oh, yeah. Look at us. We're a team. Individually we might be just a slayer, or a witch, or a werewolf, or a..." She looked at Xander. "A... A... As I was saying, when we're together, we're so much more. We're better. We're a team."  
  
"Yeah, the four musketeers," Oz joked.  
  
"Friends forever. Nothing could ever come between us," Willow inserted.  
  
"Nothing..." Xander trailed off, deep in thought.  
  
--  
  
"Aaahh!" Angel groaned in pain as the demon twisted his arm in an awkward position. Angel spun around and knocked out the demon. Another came flying at him, only to be hit by Angel. He turned and began fighting another demon.  
  
"Uh, Angel!" Cordelia screamed, shoving a demon to the side and trying to get to Angel's side. She yelled out in pain as a demon hit her back.   
  
Angel knocked another evil and countered the one fighting Cordelia. Cordelia fell to her knees, trying to catch her breath. "Whew," she sighed as she looked around the room. "I'm definitely getting so much better." She looked up and smiled at Angel. "So much better."  
  
Angel sighed heavily and helped her to her feet. "I leave Sunnydale to save the world from evil demons and I end up baby-sitting."  
  
"What was that?" Cordelia asked as they began walking to Angel's car.   
  
"Nothing," Angel shrugged. "Nothing important."   
  
"Well," Cordelia announced, opening the passenger side car door. "Speaking of Sunnydale..." she began.   
  
"Sunnydale? What about Sunnydale?" Angel asked.  
  
"Yeah, see, Giles called me and said..." Cordelia trailed off with a shriek as a demon jumped onto Angel's back and began beating him. Cordelia jumped over the roof of the car and stabbed the demon with a nail file, causing it to disintegrate.   
  
Cordelia's eyes were wide with horror. "Angel," she whispered.  
  
"I know," he whispered, watching quietly.  
  
"It's a.... it was... a vampire," she whispered. "Not a demon."  
  
"Do you see anymore?" Angel asked as she walked over to him.  
  
"No."  
  
They froze as they heard steps on the top of the car. They turned and gasped in horror at the caped figure standing before them.  
  
--  
  
The door slammed shut with a bang, and a scream rang out.  
  
"Ladies and gentlemen, please don't be frightened," the guide began, trying to keep the crowd calm. The foreign tourists yelled and talked among themselves, wondering how the door could have moved.  
  
"Tell us that old story again!" some old man spoke up. The rest of the audience nodded.  
  
The guide got nervous and annoyed. Here he was, in the middle of a crisis, and the stupid people thought it was all part of the attraction. "All right, but this is the last time!" he bellowed.  
  
The crowd instantly hushed.  
  
"A long time ago, far before any documented history, the world was created. Contrary to popular belief, the world did not start out as a paradise. Demons, known as the Ancient Ones, ran the world for eons, doing whatever they pleased. But man came onto the earth and banished them to Hell, where they wait, plotting their escape and their plan to overthrow the world." He stopped dramatically, watching the crowd's reaction.   
  
Not too far away from the crowd, a dark figure in a long trenchcoat walks down the hallway, listening to the words of the guide.  
  
"And some say that hidden somewhere on this earth lies a force so powerful, it could change the fate of mankind..."  
  
The shadow came up to a large door with ancient writing on it. He looked up, holding his torch higher, and began to read the inscription as the guide continued his speech.  
  
"Within these strong walls lies the Ultimate One. One with power so great, it had to be locked away for all eternity. And still to this day, the being lies within the protected chamber, watching and waiting for the day when it will be once again set free to roam the earth..." the guide said as the figure put his torch on the wall.  
  
The crowd began whispering excitedly. "Hey," a young man asked. "What kind of power does this thing have?"  
  
"The Ultimate Power..." the guide trailed off, walking down another walkway, signaling for the slightly disappointed crowd to follow.  
  
"Of Evil..." the figure continued, pushing an artifact into the ancient wall. He stepped back as the door shook, covering his face.   
  
After a moment of silence, he stepped forward, grinning. "All my life I've been waiting for this moment. They all said it was a lie; just an old vampire legend. But now I can prove them all wrong. I can show them that the Absolute Evil exists..." He retrieved the artifact and placed it around his neck. "And that it shall call me master." He fingered the artifact, suddenly serious, then gently kissed it. "This is for you, my love. Wherever you may be."   
  
He slowly pulled the door back, barely holding back his excitement. He reached for his torch and faced the dark room. "I can feel it. The power that lies inside. Untouched for years. Waiting to be set free. And now..."  
  
He gasped, dropping his torch to the floor. "What?" he whispered softly.  
  
The evil sat on the floor in a curled up position, and looked up at him as he stood frozen in the doorway, staring in disbelief at the sight before him.  
  
Spike had never been so confused in his life.   
  
He slowly retrieved his torch and stepped forward. "You... Who are you?"  
  
The evil looked up at him now as he stood right before it, demanding an answer. After hesitating a moment, the figure clumsily scrambled to it's feet, losing it's balance and falling into Spike's arms.  
  
Spike looked down and became overwhelmed. It was a girl. A girl barely out of her teen years, yet as beautiful as his long-lost Druscilla.  
  
Even more beautiful, he decided, cradling her in his arms. He held her close to him, still shocked by it all. "You're...?"  
  
The voice of the guide traveled through the halls. "But it is not so easy to release this evil. You see, it is protected by another Ultimate. The Ultimate Good.  
Only the Ultimate Good could reveal the location of the Evil, if you are brave enough to ask, for the magic from this guardian could kill the strongest demon, cripple Satan himself..."  
  
"Wow..." Spike whispered. The girl looked at him as Spike pulled her closer, finally aware of the intense cold in the ancient chamber. He placed his face against hers, desperately missing Druscilla and wanting to hold the girl forever, despite the awesome power that laid within her.   
  
The guide continued his bewitching tale. "Legends say there was a great quake many years ago, supposedly sent by the Lord himself, and was believed to have killed the Evil." The crowd was shocked and listening even more intently. They had not heard this part of the tale before.   
  
"But the evil may be still alive. People say that it is just a shell of it's former self, lost and alone and unable to communicate with anyone. If there were a being out there powerful enough to get through to it, then that person would have the fate of the universe in the palm of his hand," the guide concluded.   
  
Spike grinned widely. "That's perfect!" he realized.   
  
The girl turned and stared at him, as if asking what was so perfect.   
  
"Well, I can't just walk away from you now, can I? I set you free, so I gotta take care of you," Spike explained. The girl stared at him still.   
  
"You really can't talk, can you?" he asked, studying her. He gently traced his finger across her face, wondering how he could be so entrapped by this girl.  
  
The girl jumped back out of his arms in surprise, flinging a ray of light at his feet. Spike leaped away, staring at the gaping hole in the ground before him. He slowly looked up at herin amazement.   
  
"Well," he began, stepping a little closer to her. "Having you around might not be such a bad idea after all."  



	2. Chapter One

Buffy the Vampire Slayer  
  
  
Oz looked up in surprise at the clapping that came after he finished the song. He looked over the edge of the stage to see Buffy, Xander, and Willow watching him and his band. "You guys came to my rehearsal?" he asked in disbelief.  
  
"Surprised?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Very. What's going on?" he asked as he set down his guitar and jumped down to join them.  
  
"We came to visit you," Willow explained.  
  
"Visit me," Oz repeated, staring at them.  
  
"Come on, don't act like we never did anything for you," Xander laughed.  
  
"Okay, so you came to visit me... Not what do you really want?"  
  
"Actually, I got an emergency call from Giles," Buffy spoke up.  
  
"Really? What's happening?" Oz asked curiously.  
  
"Well, apparently he and Wes..." Buffy began to explain.  
  
"Whoa, hang on. When did Wes come back from the mother country?" Oz asked in confusion.  
  
"I have no earthly idea. But if he did come back, then it must be for a pretty good reason," Buffy replied.  
  
"You don't think..." Willow began.  
  
Buffy stopped her. "I don't even want to think that there may be another Acsension-type threat on Sunnydale. It's got to be something else."  
  
Oz nodded. "She's right."  
  
"But aren't you bored, Buffy?" Xander asked. "I mean, all the summer long we've been bored out of our minds waiting for something big to happen."  
  
"True, but it's just..." Buffy trailed off, touching the amulet hanging around her neck as she walked away.  
  
"Buffy?" Xander asked.  
  
Buffy didn't reply.  
  
"You miss Faith," Willow brought up suddenly.  
  
There was a deadly silence in the atmosphere.  
  
Buffy turned and ran out of the Bronze.  
  
Willow sighed heavily. "I knew something was wrong."  
  
"Faith?" Oz asked. "She misses Faith?"  
  
"Yeah, it's the slayer bonding syndrome," Xander joked. "She's lonely. She wants some one like her around so she won't feel so out of place."  
  
Willow frowned. "I guess I'm not good enough for her anymore."  
  
Oz didn't say anything.  
  
Xander put his arm around her. "Wil, that's not true. Buffy just needs a little adjusting. It's a phase; it'll pass. Just wait and see."  
  
"You're right, Xander," Willo realized.  
  
"I'm always right. Now how about we go see what's up with Giles and Wes?" Xander asked as they headed for the door.  
  
--  
  
Cordelia frowned as she stepped into the house. "Angel?" she called out.  
  
No answer.  
  
"Where is he?" she asked herself, checking her watch.  
  
--  
  
"So now I'm home..." Spike proclaimed as he kicked down the door to the Hellmouth. "I've haven't been here for a long time." He looked around the room, then laughed. "Of course, it wasn't really that long ago compared to the rest of my life, but without Druscilla it feels like it's been forever."  



End file.
